Occupy the CourtsOccupy Syracuse and community members rally outside the Federal Building to announce they are joining with other communities to Occupy the Courts. Video by David Lassman

Syracuse, NY – Occupy Syracuse launched a petition drive this afternoon to get the Syracuse Common Council to support a constitutional amendment declaring that corporations are not people.

The group gathered at noon at the plaza of the James M. Hanley Federal Building in downtown Syracuse to open the drive. It was part of “Occupy the Courts,” protests taking place at federal courthouses across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

About 40 Occupy Syracuse supporters listened to speeches and carried signs criticizing the high court’s ruling in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission. The case affirmed that corporations are people and that the First Amendment prohibits government from restricting how much money can be independently spent by corporations and unions for political purposes.

“This is what a person looks like! No corporate personhood!” read the sign carried by Rachel May, whose face showed through a hole cut in the center.

Perceived corporate control of politics has been a major target of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Organizers today said they hope that by getting cities such as Syracuse to back an amendment, state governments will be pressured to continue the process.

The local protest took place despite Occupy Syracuse’s eviction early Thursday from Perseverance Park, the downtown space where members had camped since Oct. 2. Mayor Stephanie Miner ordered the group out after fire officials found heating gear that had been forbidden to them as a fire hazard.

View full sizeDavid Lassman / The Post-StandardOccupy Syracuse and community members rally outside the Federal Building to announce they are joining with other communities to Occupy the Courts. Getting signs ready are, from left, Ryan Canavan and Christine Dopp, both from Syracuse.

Their tents gone, three members spent the night sleeping on the park’s pavement under open sky while a fourth member stood guard. Police spokesman Sgt. Tom Connellan said that, while a sign erected Thursday now bars people from sleeping at Perseverance Park, the department’s chief concern was that no one erected tents or brought in furniture.

Ryan O’Hara, one of the members who spent Thursday night in the park, said Occupy members would continue to sleep there “as long as people are willing and able.” But the group also is talking about finding indoor space, he said.

Occupy members plan to picket the Mayor’s Ball on Jan. 28, but mainly want to keep pushing their social justice message, not spar with Miner, O’Hara said.

“Fighting the mayor is not what Occupy Syracuse is all about,” he said.